Start Up Your Extreme Gear!
by UpbeatButNegative
Summary: A robbery by three mysterious rogues in Future City sparks new competition for Sonic and friends. With a new type of racing tournament set up and the prize being the seven Chaos Emeralds, it seems that everyone is out there to prove to the world that they are the best. However, with the same three rogues and even Eggman involved in all of this, they may reach, but never catch...
1. New Competition

**~Guess who's back and at it again? Me, UpbeatButNegative!~**

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**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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**High in the Sky...**

The moon's shine pierced the cluster of clouds as the tall mountains stood frozen. A giant, red airship flew across the night sky as its propellers whirled. Apart from the constant buzzing noise it produced outside, it was a peaceful night. What could possibly ruin it? A little pod of an aircraft flew closeby, minuscule compared to the giant airship. Travelers, perhaps? No. This was much more.

Inside the captain's room of the airship, a young, emerald green hawk sat, his goggles resting on his forehead and a peculiar crystal box, with a bright glow in it, resting in his hand. For the longest time, Jet the Hawk wondered what the box's secrets were. All Jet could remember was that it was given to him by his father, who only told him that it could unlock great treasures. But how? Why? Was there more to the box than meets the eye? Unfortunately for Jet, it was just another night of pondering.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard. Jet turned to the door.

"Hey, boss!"

"Wha..?" The footsteps grew louder. The door burst open, revealing a large, gray albatross by the name of Storm. Storm stumbled in, making Jet yelp, drop the crystal box on the table and drop himself on the floor.

Slamming the table with his equally large hands, Storm alerted the boss, "We've got some major trouble!" making the box jump with every slam on the wooden furniture.

"Storm! At least learn to knock before entering a room!" a purple swallow scolded Storm. With her bandana on her head, Wave placed one hand on the door as she leaned towards it. Storm glanced at her, then looked back at the crystal box.

"What's this?" he asked Jet, picking it up with his gloved hands. "Ooh... Is this..."

"Yeah..." Jet responded, picking himself up from the floor. "That's when I took over things for my father."

"So, is this the key to the fabled Babylon Garden?" Wave asked, walking into the room.

"I wonder..." Storm mused. "Could it be true? Could our ancestors have left behind hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered?" Jet nodded slightly with a smirk, though he wasn't quite sure himself. Wave slowly lifted up her hand, ready to take the box from Storm and look at it herself, but Storm raised it higher, making it so Wave couldn't reach it. "Uh uh!" he sounded. "If you get your greasy little hands on it, you'll probably use it in some crazy experiment or something!"

"Jeez, Storm! I only want a look!" Wave groaned.

"You always say you only want this or that," Storm reminded her, while Jet decided to take his seat. He often became irritated when his team argued with each other. This time was no exception. "Remember the teachings of our ancestors. 'Be careful what you ask for because in the end, you'll only get three true wishes.' Also-"

"Oh, be quiet!" Jet snapped, grasping Storm and Wave's attention. "Why'd you burst in here anyway, Storm?"

"Well, uh..." the albatross placed the box back down and took a moment to regain his answer. "An... egghead? Egg salad? No... Professor-"

"Someone called Dr Eggman wants to speak to you," Wave told Jet, interrupting her bigger friend.

Holding her head away, Storm added, "He told me that he had an interesting proposition for you."

"Stop interrupting!" Wave demanded, pushing Storm by his stomach. "Knock it off!" After a second of a staredown, the two turned away from each other with their arms crossed. Jet sighed.

"Ahem. Am I interrupting anything?" came the voice of a rather rotund guest. His red military jacket and abnormally wide mustache made him an infamous figure to the world. He was the one Wave referred to as ' Dr Eggman'.

"So then, I heard you wanted to see me?" Jet said to him.

"Are you Jet, the leader of the legendary Babylon Rogues?" Jet nodded. "Your reputation precedes you. I've heard so much about your infamous group!" A grin pulled along Eggman's face.

"Enough!" Jet ordered. "What do you want?"

"I heard a rumor, a rumor that you have the key to Babylon Garden. Could this be true?" Storm, noticing the crystal box Eggman referred to, hastily blocked it from Eggman's view as he whistled a little tune.

"Huh? What's this key?" Jet lied.

"Ho ho ho ho! Really now, you don't have to be so distrusting," Eggman chuckled. Walking to to Jet, he said, "Were you not aware of this? Well, I'd imagine not, yet. The key to Babylon Garden is..." The infamous 'scientific genius' whispered the rest to the green hawk, who smirked to what he just learned.

"Hmm, so let me get this straight," Jet spoke. "We just need to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, right?" To Eggman's nod, Jet replied, "Sounds easy!"

"You really think so, eh?" Eggman smirked also.

"What do you mean?" Jet grunted, his own smirk disappearing. "Are you saying that the Babylon Rogues aren't capable of stealing some puny emeralds?"

"N-No, of course not," Eggman assured him, fiddling with something on his wrist. "But... Have you seen these characters before?" From his wrist device, a display shot out in front of the Babylon Rogues. An array of figures appeared on the display, all with the names of them and a one liner to describe each of them. Jet took a slight interest, though he didn't care for a so called 'Ultimate Life Form', nor did he take interest in the 'mechanical genius of a fox'. The 'Master Emerald' sounded promising, but the seven smaller emeralds were more important. There was one line which stood out to Jet: 'the fastest thing alive'.

"Fastest thing alive, huh?" Jet mumbled.

"I've had many dreadful encounters with them in the past, especially the blue pest you seem to be intrigued by," Eggman said.

"Hmph. He may be the fastest creature on the ground," Jet began to sneer. "But in the air, with me and my Extreme Gear, he's just a joke!" A rather eccentric cackle rang in the airship.

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**In Future City...**

Not only did the moon brighten up the place, but the array of city lights made Future City quite a sight. While most of the citizens partied away or drove around, a handful of them took in the fresh air by walking on the sidewalks. The classic combo of heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Tails Prower and Knuckles the Echidna, also took the foot route. However, they weren't just enjoying the night life (though it would seem like a good idea to, considering Eggman didn't launch any new schemes in a while!). Instead, they were on a hunt, a hunt for the Chaos Emeralds. They had four already, so they were in good shape for whatever was to come, that is, if something was to come.

"Tell me why we're looking for them again," Knuckles grumbled, his arm crossed.

"If we find the Emeralds now, it will save time in the long run," Tails reminded him. "If Eggman strikes, we'll already have the Emeralds to stop his plans." Sonic said nothing, though he wished to do something more interesting, too. However, his buddy did have a point. Said fox was holding one of his little contraptions in his hand. It was an Emerald Detector and it showed a bright dot near the middle of the screen, indicating another Emerald. "It looks like the signal's coming from around here," Tails told his friends. At that moment, a circle stretched out from the dot, with the sign 'Jamming Signal' displayed. "Hmm... That's really weird," Tails said. "It looks like something's jamming the radar signal."

Suddenly, the ear piercing sound of breaking glass rang in everyone's ears!

Team Sonic turned around to find the source of it. Three silhouettes seemed to be descending to the ground from a building, one of which was holding a gem. A Chaos Emerald!

"What's that!?" Knuckles spoke up.

"Sonic! The Emerald's over there!" Tails warned his surrogate brother, pointing to the front figure. All three of them landed on the road and took off on their boards in colored streaks.

"Alright! Now we're talking!" Sonic grinned before signaling his friends to move out. Sonic used his trademark speed to catch up with the thieves, while Tails and Knuckles followed close behind, maneuvering past the night's traffic. Police cars were immediately called in after the windows crashed, so Team Sonic and the thieves have to swerve past all of them, too.

Sonic sped ahead of the thieves in a blue blur, the green hawk taking a glance at it. After Sonic stopped in front of them, he got into a fighting position. However, one of the smaller rogues crouched down and leaped above the blue hedgehog, who gasped slightly. As he started to chase after them, Knuckles rushed in to intercept the biggest rogue. The echidna swung his fist at him, knocking him off his board and forcing him to hitch a ride with the last thief. Tails caught up and noticed a peculiar mark on the board on the road. Before he could analyze it further, Sonic threw it upwards, lunged for it and took a ride on it, dashing away with a streak of gray shooting from its back.

Sonic, having experience with boarding (snowboarding, fleeing from the cops, etc), was able to control himself with the board he was on, but somehow, it felt... different. Sure, it was essentially a skateboard without wheels, but it was a board nevertheless, right? The hedgehog had no time to ponder on that, though. He needed to catch up with the apparent leader behind the thieving and get back the Chaos Emerald!

Swiftly and with some finesse, Sonic swerved past the incoming, outgoing and obstructing traffic, dodging police cars as he did so. Though he passed the big guy and only girl, there was the last rogue to catch up with. Boards knocked into each other, leaving Sonic and the thief off balance, though they both got it back. Sonic leaned forward, making the board propel forward with him, and swerved around his opponent quite stylishly.

"Huh, not bad," the bird smirked. Sonic turned to him, but there was one problem. He wasn't there!

"What the heck?" Sonic remarked. He looked up, not thinking that the guy would be there, but he was! The silhouette blocked a portion of the moon like an eclipse, but that was all the hedgehog saw before a sudden blast of turbulence blew Sonic off the board and onto the ground.

"Hmph! So, you're supposed to be the fastest thing alive? What a joke!" Sonic heard the rogue sneer before he, along with his two bumbling teammates, took off (but not before the big guy stretched his arm out for his own board). Sonic picked himself up from the road, while Tails and Knuckles caught up with him. Sonic took a glance at them before turning back to where the rogues just left the scene.

"Huh, new competition!" the hedgehog smirked.

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Hiya, everyone! UpbeatButNegative finally here with another Sonic fanfic. But it's a novelization. I'm just on that mindset, huh?

Anyway, I know there's one or two Sonic 'novelizers' out there ('novelizers' is a word I made up, which means 'authors of novelizations'), but I decided to try my hand at it. If you like what you see, then stay tuned for more!

By the way, I capitalized 'emerald' in some parts because they refer to the Chaos Emeralds. But that's not the point.

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	2. Eggman Again!

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Before I begin, I'd like to thank ballandcup for adding this story to their story alerts.

Reply to ballandcup's review of Chapter 1: Well, you added this to your alerts, no? I mean, why would you do so if you didn't like it?

Anyway, what did you like about it?

Reply to explodinghead's review of Chapter 1: Looking back on it, that first sentence was kinda cool.

Too much pronouns is a bad thing, but so is too little, right? I'll try to watch out next time.

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**The Next Day...**

After Sonic's defeat to those rogues, he and his team took a break from Chaos Emerald hunting and rested for the night. The next morning, they decided to take a trip to the center of the city.

"I can't seem to get a signal on the Emerald detector for more Emeralds," Tails said to Knuckles and Sonic as they questioned the purpose of the detour. "Perhaps we'll get some information on them at the center of the city."

While Future City looked spectacular at night, it had its charm in broad daylight. All over the city were flashy billboards and advertisements. Ever since the robbery last night, reparations for the building were being made, so citizens were advised to stay away from the reconstruction site. Instead, they took up the rest of the city in the hustle and bustle of getting to work. The horns of cars were honked and conversations rang in the air as Team Sonic made their way to the center. Suddenly, interrupting the busy lifestyle of Future City's citizens was a rather infamous evil chuckle. Team Sonic turned to one of the giant video screens to see...

"Eggman!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome everyone! I hope you're all ready for a show because we've got an exciting event just for you!" said doctor announced, following up with another 'ho ho ho'. "Since you all seem so bored, I've put together a little extra something to spice things up!: the 'EX World Grand Prix'! Not just any racing tournament, but a racing tournament with..." A peculiar looking board, one Sonic gasped at because of its familiarity, was brought out and held out in front of the screen. "Extreme Gear! Don't have one? Then call this number and order your very own!" The phone number '1-800-369-EGGY-4-LIFE' appeared on screen, along with a list of prices. These figures appeared in all of the billboards in Future City and remained there, never leaving their places. "Anyway, these races are no holds barred. All contestants must only pay a simple entry fee of one Chaos Emerald, but the one winner takes it all! So, let's see who among you dares to meet this challenge!" The screen shut off after Eggman's announcement.

"Just what is that guy up to this time!?" Knuckles growled. What made the echidna jump was another shot of Eggman's face on screen.

"But wait, there's more!" the doctor announced. "Before I forget, the preliminary rounds start tomorrow, so get ordering and get practicing! Also, let me introduce you to our current contestants! These players are hot, the best I could find!" Three blue hued mugshots, along with respective full body shots, appeared on screen, all of which Sonic recognized!

"Hey! That's...!" he gasped as he noticed the green hawk. After about fifteen seconds, the screen shut off again. Sonic then had a smirk on his face. "The EX World Grand Prix, huh?" His friends turned to him. "Tails, start making some orders! We're gonna enter that tournament and win those Emeralds! Let's do this!"

Orders for the boards known as Extreme Gear flew in like bees attracted to honey (in other words, really fast!) and they arrived at equal speed. In time, everyone was out and about, riding their Gear wherever they went. As for Team Sonic, they seemed pretty disappointed with how their gear looked. Well, Sonic and Knuckles were, anyway.

"This is the 'extreme' factor?" the hedgehog sighed, laying his eyes on a plain blue board.

"This thing doesn't look like it can even hold a guy up!" Knuckles added, glaring at a run of the mill orange board.

"Hmm..." As Tails further inspected his own yellow board, as well as his friends', an idea came and developed in his genius mind. "Don't worry, guys! I'll customize these things for you!"

"Huh? You sure you know what you're doing?" Knuckles asked.

"I'm not so sure of the technology Extreme Gear use, I'm afraid. But I'll see what I can do."

"Alright. We'll leave it to you, Tails," Sonic smiled.

Tails headed for home to fix up the boards, while his friends split up and explored the city. After all, there was quite a lot to do in Future City, aside from nearly getting run over by passersby. As for the eight year old genius, it took him quite some time for him to learn how Extreme Gear even worked! What he was witnessing was some advanced technology, even for him. However, when it came to customizing, that didn't take Tails as long as he expected. By applying what he knew of other contraptions, he was able to modify his own and his friends' Gears to suit their needs.

It was the late afternoon and Sonic and Knuckles visited Tails to see how things were holding up for him. The fox, ecstatic to see their reactions to the modifications, immediately ushered them in and led them to their Gear, which were proudly propped up for display for such an occasion. What the echidna and hedgehog laid eyes on was quite a piece of work.

"Whew! You really outdid yourself this time, Tails!" Knuckles grinned, reaching over to hold his new board. The 'Red Rock', was a red skateboard shaped Gear, fitted with a silver footing plate on a yellow plate with black stripes across it. It mirrored its owner's power in durability, in being able to take more abuse than other Gears.

"I never thought I'd agree with Knuckles, but this is sweet, Tails!" Sonic grinned also. His sleek Gear, the 'Blue Star', was blue with a yellow stripe around a metal plate. It was only natural for Sonic, 'the fastest thing alive', to be equipped with a Gear that could reach high top speeds to blow ahead of the competition.

"Ha ha. Thanks, guys. I worked really hard on it," Tails chuckled, rubbing the tip of his nose slightly. His surfboard shaped 'Yellow Tail' Gear was an orangish yellow Gear with a solid yellow stripe around a metal plate. While it lacked in sturdiness, it made up for it with the ability for turn very accurately and accelerate quickly. After glancing over to his clock to check the time and taking a peek at the darkening sky, the yellow fox realized something. "Aah! There's not enough time for us to practice riding!"

"Oh, c'mon, Tails. There's nothing like riding at this time!" Sonic replied nonchalantly. "Loads of people will be around!"

"Sonic, it'll get dark," Tails sighed. "And who knows what'll happen in the dark?"

"You've been through worse," Knuckles stated. "Besides, we won't stay out too long." He began to nudge Sonic. "Right, Sonic?" To this, said hedgehog grinned sheepishly.

Tails sighed once more. However, after taking a look at the three boards, then his friends, another thought occurred to him as a smile appeared on his face. "Hmm... I guess it wouldn't hurt to dedicate some time to finally testing these babies out."

"Great!" Tails' surrogate brother grinned, slapping him on the back. "Let's get going!"

Once again, the three friends that made up Team Sonic were out and about in Future City at night. The scenery flickered and flashed before their eyes, for not only were the city lights and streetlights on, but the many thrust trails from a variety of Extreme Gear streamed and crisscrossed about, appearing as luminous ribbons on the ground. By this point in time, most of the citizens got the basics of Extreme Gear down and were either resting up for the preliminaries, or riding around some more for the sake of it. Of course, though, they had to sign up for the tournament in Future City's 'Sign Up Square'. The members of Team Sonic were reminded of this by a passerby and headed for the square before honing what little skill they had on their Gear. However, signing up was the only setback before they could finally ride their boards.

Sonic rode one of these babies before, so he was able to teach Tails and Knuckles (especially Knuckles!) about how it felt and what he did to move around in it. After that, each of the friends were on their own, but not before agreeing to meet back at the Sign Up Square an hour later. As for the individual practice sessions, Sonic was eventually able to perform basic tricks off the city's small ramps, while Tails focused on moving around on his Gear and Knuckles had no idea what he was doing. However, with some of Tails' help, he managed to at least get around.

However, little did Team Sonic know it, three silhouettes were standing on top of a nearby hill, watching their every move.

"Hah! If that's what the 'fastest thing alive' can do, collecting these Emeralds will be a joke!" one of them cackled.

"He'll never be as good as you, boss," the largest of the three added.

"Just remember, guys. Blow through the preliminaries and annihilate the lucky ones who make it through!" the third one reminded the other two. "This should be easy, considering how much I've tuned our Gear, Jet."

"Hmph. I don't need you to tell me that much, Wave," Jet told her. "We're the Babylon Rogues! We've taken treasures far more precious than these 'Chaos Emeralds' Eggman was talking about!"

"Uh, about that..." the big guy, Storm, spoke up once again. "Is it just me who has a bad feeling about that guy?"

"Just chill, Storm," Jet smirked. "We'll just take his advice and get those Emeralds. Nothing any of us can't handle, right?"

"I guess so."

"Besides, what could Eggman possibly have up his sleeve? He may not be as clever as he looks, but even he should know that no one tricks the Babylon Rogues and gets away with it!"

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'Extreme Gear' and (sometimes) 'Gear' are capitalized because they relate to the important boards.

After Eggman's broadcast, I was originally gonna jump straight to the first race (well, according to the Heroes Story, of course; it's actually the second race chronologically, but that's not the point), but I wanted to write some original content in this novelization. Think of it as filling in a sandwich. You guys probably won't be happy with just the two slices of bread/toast that is the main plot, so that's why I wrote my own content.

The EX World Grand Prix will begin next time, so look forward to that!

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	3. Firstly, In Future City

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Before I begin, I'd like to thank blazetigresa for adding this story to their favorites.

Reply to explodinghead's review of Chapter 2: I had a look back and fixed some of the errors. Hope it makes the story look better!

While you shouldn't expect too much of 'ho ho ho', it will appear quite a number of times. Good old Eggy has made that laugh a trademark of his.

Reply to ballandcup's review of Chapter 2: Well, what did you like about that 'one'? To be honest, I can't respond too well to one lined reviews.

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**The Next Day...**

"All participants of the fifth preliminary round, please report to the city's starting gate to begin the race."

Four other preliminary rounds took place beforehand and two more were to take place afterwards. Knuckles, Tails and all but one of the three rogues from two days ago won the rounds they competed in and qualified for the actual tournament. It was Sonic's turn to compete for his position, so with the Blue Star in hand, the hedgehog made his way to the designated location.

The noon sky loomed over the whole of Future City, as well as its starting gate. The gate itself was essentially two futuristic looking pillars, projecting a 'START' sign in between them. Below it was the orange starting line, with stripes of black crossing it. As Sonic arrived at the scene, he noticed the looks on the other seven competitors' eyes. They were filled with determination to win, yet the fear of losing also mixed in. Vows were made solemnly, legs shook slightly and all eight competitors turned to the track. With Sonic finally present, the race was about to begin.

The race's announcer and judge floated by the starting gate. Omochao, the blue, robotic Chao, had a yellow wind up key on his head, a microphone in one hand and a camera on the other. Other cameras were set across the entire race track to get close up shots, but Omochao played the role of 'eyes in the sky'. While he was a robot, he was just as excited for the race to begin as the competitors, if not more. In this excitement, he paced back and forth along the starting line, taking glances at the racers and the chrome road ahead of them. He couldn't help but squeal (well, the racers thought it was a squeal, anyway).

"Alright, folks. The rules are simple," he finally declared after taking a moment to calm down. "Whoever finishes three laps of this track first will win the preliminary round. Any questions?" No one put up their hand, for they knew the rules already. "Okay, then, good luck out there! Take your marks..."

As the eight racers lined up next to each other behind the starting line, electric lines shot out from the gate's pillars, blocking the track from the racers' sights.

"Get set..."

The racers' Extreme Gear were clutched tightly.

"Three..."

They took running start positions.

"Two..."

They began to make their running start.

"One..."

They were ready to dash out!

"Go!"

The electric line disappeared and all eight racers shot out of the starting line.

They sped down a chrome slope and rose along the upcoming hill, only to be greeted with a bright ramp. Nearly all of the racers merely sped over it before gravity pulled them back onto the track. Because they suffered a minor speed loss, they had to build up their speed again. Up in the sky, they could see Sonic performing a clockwise turn, the Blue Star's thrust trails spinning along with it. Lining up the board parallel to the track, Sonic landed perfectly and gained a small, temporary speed boost, which aided him in blowing past his opponents.

Speeding down along the road and into a transparent tunnel, the blue hedgehog caught sight of an amber rail with a blue glow in front of it. Experience told him to jump onto it and witness the results, so he did just that. Sonic grinded on the rail, while keeping his balance on the Blue Star. Sparks flew from the board as he shifted his weight over to the right, to keep himself from falling off the bending rail. He saw a red glow, signaling the end of the rail, but after it was another blue glow, meaning that there was another rail.

"Heh heh," Sonic grinned, placing his back foot at the end of his board. "I've done much more extreme tricks than this!" True to his word, he lifted himself off the rail and landed on the second with ease. More sparks flew off the Blue Star as the blue hedgehog leaned forward to push himself in that direction. "Not as fun as running away from the cops," he mused. "But whatever!"

Passing over the end of the rail meant that gravity played its role in pulling Sonic back onto the track. Said hedgehog found himself back outside, hearing the sounds of his friends supporting him.

"Don't lose your lead, Sonic!" Knuckles encouraged him.

"You can do it, Sonic!" Tails cheered, giving his surrogate brother a thumbs up. Sonic returned it with the same gesture as he rode along a slope, losing his speed from ascending up it. The peak of the slope was where he regained his speed, bur he gained even more from rocketing down it.

A small trick ramp awaited the Blue Blur, who jumped off it and performed a handstand on his Blue Star. Before landing on the track, he jumped back on his feet, turned behind him and posed for whatever camera he passed. What he didn't hear was the sound of gasping and fainting fangirls. Despite this, he managed to keep a good lead throughout the first lap.

After the second lap began for Sonic and he made it past that same point, he was, for the second time, greeted with an orange tinted tunnel. Zooming in it, he noticed the shapes of various pedestrians block the way for Sonic. Of course, they were just props for the racers, but it annoyed the speedster just the same. After swerving around one, he leaped over another, following up with another leap over a third obstacle and a deliberate near miss with a fourth.

Sonic reached the tunnel's end, to be greeted with a busy looking intersection. Taking a glace upwards, he could see billboards with artists' interpretations of his various exploits, such as the whale chase in Emerald Coast and the final battle with the liquid monster called Chaos.

"Nice to see that they still remember that time!" Sonic grinned to himself. In truth, he didn't think that he was going to make it, but make it through he did, with the help of his friends! But that wasn't the situation at hand.

There were more obstacles in the way, all of which were hover cars. However, Sonic noticed a wide half pipe just before the group of pedestrians, leaving him two options: swerve round the cars or perform a trick off the half pipe. Because he did the former in the previous lap, he immediately leaned over to the left and jumped off the half pipe, performing what was known as a 'nose grab' in the process. Landing successfully, Sonic twirled round and posed once more before continuing with the race.

Despite Sonic's performance so far, three of the racers gradually closed in on the Blue Blur, desperate for victory. As the final lap began, the largest of the three, a polar bear, became blind in rage. In this rage, he swung his fist at the nearby squirrel, knocking him off his board and overtaking him. The last of the three, a weasel, also decided to play dirty. After ducking under the big guy's second punch, he stretched his foot to his opponent's ankle, tripping him up and making him fall off his board.

"Ouch! That must have hurt!" Omochao commented on the situation. "But you know what they say: anything goes in these races! Let's see if they bring themselves back up and catch up!"

They never did.

The little weasel closed in on Sonic even more as the two performed tricks off the half pipe. Said hedgehog turned around to find him in the distance.

"Well, took him long enough!" he told himself. "But now, it's time to step it up!" Bringing a foot off his board, Sonic kicked along the ground, propelling himself forward. However, as he noticed the incoming bend, he had no choice but to shift his weight to the right. Drifting on the bend ensured that he lost no speed. However, his opponent was not so skilled with Extreme Gear (or any type of boarding at all) and was forced to brake, turn and move forward.

As Sonic approached the end of the turn, he brought his foot up and 'kick dashed' out of his drift. Chuckling at his opponent's stumble, he leaned forward to move faster on his board, nearing a giant ramp. The hedgehog crouched, then lifted himself and the Blue Star off the ramp, performing a backflip and an anticlockwise turn in sequence. As he landed, he encountered another ramp. Since he was confident in his victory, he decided to play it stylish by breakdancing as he made a clockwise turn. He gained a round of applause from the audience for the trick and an even bigger one for finishing the race.

"Wow! What a fantastic performance from Sonic!" Omochao cheered. "And by my calculations, Sonic just established a new track record!" Another round of applause rang in the city as Sonic waved to the cameras, catching a glimpse of the nearby weasel scurrying away in frustration.

"You win some, you lose some," he muttered to himself.

"So, tell me, Sonic," Omochao said to him. "How does it feel to break the previous record by a second?"

"Hah, winning was too easy. A piece of cake, if you will," the hedgehog grinned. "But breaking the track record? Didn't see that coming!"

"You know, if you keep this up, you could be the one to become the champion!"

"Then I guess I'll have to keep at it, won't I?"

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Future City, a green hawk kept his eyes on one of the giant video screens. After watching Sonic's race, he closed his eyes and smirked.

"Hmm, not bad. But still unimpressive for someone of your reputation, Sonic the Hedgehog! I will get those Chaos Emeralds, I will win the Grand Prix and I will prove that I'm the fastest thing alive!" Jet broke out in another eccentric sounding cackle as his vows were made.

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In this novelization, tracks will be broken down into three parts, each of which will be novelized for each lap. I think it's a better structure than describing everything in the first lap, then pulling words out of nowhere in the second and third because the description will be spread out evenly.

By the way, I definitely did not reference Bark the Polar Bear, Ray the Flying Squirrel or Nack the Weasel in this chapter! Nope!

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	4. Secondly, In Splash Canyon

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Reply to ballandcup' review of Chapter 3: What did you like about it?

Reply to blazetigresa's review of Chapter 3: When someone favorites one of my stories or adds it to their alerts and the fic is still 'in progress', I thank them at the beginning of the next chapter. It's a thing I do often. I think it makes the person/people feel special.

'History'? I'm not so sure what you mean by that. Do you mean 'story'?

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**The Next Day, In Splash Canyon...**

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were tired out after their preliminary rounds, so they skipped out on watching the seventh and crashed for the night. Meanwhile, word got out that the next race was to be held at the natural resort 'Splash Canyon'. Naturally, this hyped up the audience. The seven preliminary rounds were packed into one day and Splash Canyon was considered the first race in the 'official' tournament, for that race and the races to come would only consist of those who made it through the preliminaries.

The next day, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles headed for the destination. Though neither of them were to compete, they decided to stick around and watch the race. The three friends walked along a wooden bridge, one that was supported with metal beams, as they checked out the track and discussed what Eggman was really after. With the doctor and the seven Chaos Emeralds involved, one could only guess...

"It can't be anything too important," Sonic reassured his echidna friend, who questioned Eggman's motives the most. "If he wanted those Emeralds so badly, he could have just hopped on his pod and searched for them, right?"

"But something still doesn't feel right," Knuckles insisted, crossing his arms as he walked. He glanced at Tails to see if he had anything to say, but the fox just stared at his Yellow Tail in deep thought. Every now and then, he took a look at the Blue Star and Red Rock, though it wasn't the boards he was interested in. Not even the roar of the nearby waterfall snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm..." was the only sound Tails made.

"Hey, Soooniiic!" a higher pitched voice called out. Footsteps grew louder as the blue hedgehog turned around, fearing who called out his name.

"A-Amy..." She admired (no, idolized!) Sonic even since he saved her. She fell madly in love with him and vowed that they would marry someday. These days, they were friends, but inside, Amy knew that it wasn't enough. "You're in this competition, too?" Sonic asked the pink hedgehog as she neared him and his friends.

"Of course," she giggled, placing her very pink Extreme Gear, the 'Pink Rose', down on the bridge. "It looks really exciting and fun. Why wouldn't I join?" Her green eyes gleamed as she made that last statement. Shuffling her new, matching racing outfit, she said, "Besides..." She leaned towards her crush. Slowly. "This way, I'll be able to keep my eyes on you." Amy winked at Sonic, leaving him slightly embarrassed. Knuckles smacked his forehead at this action, while Tails still kept his focus on whatever was on the boards. The other three noticed this and turned to him.

"That mark..." the fox murmured.

"Mark?" Sonic repeated, confused at what his friend was saying. The 'mark' was a genie lamp surrounded with little flames.

"Uh huh," Tails responded, nodding his head in affirmation. "I think it was on the boards of those guys we ran into in Future City two days ago." He shut his eyes and began to think. What was it about the lamp that made it so significant? "Babylon..."

"Babylon?" the other three repeated their fox friend.

"Yes. It's the mark of the Babylon Rogues. A long time ago, there was a floating island known as Babylon Garden. Supposedly, robbers lived there." Knuckles winced at this slightly. He knew how it felt to be robbed, robbed of the Master Emerald, anyway. "According to rumors, this infamous band, the 'Babylon Rogues', were great thieves," Tails continued. "Legend also says that the Babylon Rogues incurred the wrath of the gods because of their crimes. Their island was cast into the depths of the earth and after that, the Babylonians were supposedly scattered for all time, never to be found. But they say that the Babylon Rogues' treasure still remains on that island, waiting to be discovered. There were also rumors that the Babylon Rogues were Extreme Gear specialists!" This definitely perked up Sonic's, Amy's and Knuckles' interest, especially Knuckles.

"Then, how can planks like this just float?" the echidna asked Tails, holding up his Red Rock.

"That's easy to explain!" the fox told him proudly. Apparently, he figured out how Extreme Gear worked, or so Knuckles thought. "According to the Kutta-Joukowski Lift Theorem, the control surface flow is balanced by the inverse kinetics of the..." Somewhere along those lines, Knuckles lost him. Sonic and Amy were left baffled later on, but the way Tails explained it made Knuckles go crazy. His body shook as his teeth were clenched. His eyes also suddenly span round!

"Stooop!" the echidna shouted, finally interrupting his friend. If Knuckles was a computer, he would have been fried. Not that being a computer would have made too big of a difference, for his brain sure felt like short circuiting and exploding! "I get it, okay!? It just floats and that's good enough for me!" he added, trying to justify for his 'rudeness'. Sonic and Amy sighed, while Tails just laughed sheepishly. He did again. Yes, long winding explanations was something that Tails' friends didn't appreciate from him. Speaking of laughter, another voice broke out in it, but it didn't come from Sonic, Amy or even Knuckles.

A purple swallow strolled by Sonic and friends, saying, "Sorry, but it's just too funny!" As she adjusted her necklace, which had a red gem, Wave couldn't help but catch glimpses of Team Sonic's boards. After taking a look around, she finally laid eyes on the Blue Star. "Hmm? Those Gears are unusual," she remarked, mainly addressing the blue board she was looking at.

"Customized it myself," Tails announced proudly. Wave, though, didn't seem too convinced. Was the eight year old fox really the one who designed those boards? Wave took the Blue Star of its owner's hands and took a look at it herself.

_Wow, this isn't actually half bad... for an amateur... _the swallow pondered to herself. _Still, you can never be too careful... _Gingerly, she turned the bottom of the board away from Sonic and friends and stuck a peculiar object on it. It was so minute, not even she could tell where it was by the time she lifted her hand. Suddenly, she broke out in laughter, but not one because of a funny moment, but because...

"Well, I never imagined anyone would enter the Grand Prix with such a piece of 'junk'!" This remark gained quite the negative response from Sonic and friends. Sonic, Amy and Knuckles clenched their teeth in rage, while Tails tried not to show how he really felt. Still, his blue eyes showed major disappointment, but the rest of his body showed nothing else. "Thanks, though," Wave smirked, casually dropping the Blue Star on the bridge. "It was good for a laugh." Letting out another 'hah', she took off. "See ya, shorty!"

Amy, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth against each other, snarled behind Wave's back, "Ooh, that girl! Who does she think she is!?" If there was one thing the pink hedgehog couldn't accept, it was the kind of time Wave delivered with that response!

"Hmph! How could she just go up and diss Tails like that!?" Knuckles growled, cracking his namesakes. "If I see that girl again, I'm gonna pummel her to a pulp!" Meanwhile, Sonic just stared apologetically at his fox friend, who just picked up the Blue Star and handed it over.

"Hey. You okay, buddy?" the hedgehog asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine," Tails tried to reassure Sonic with a sad smile. "I shouldn't let people like her get me down. You said yourself, right?" Sonic ruffled the top of his friend's head, though concern still showed in his eyes. "But..." Tails softly spoke. "I guess my design needs some work..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Sonic smiled. "You always do your best. My Gear's been holding up pretty well, too!"

"The next race is about to begin," Omochao announced, stopping everyone in their tracks. "Wave the Swallow, Amy Rose, please come to the gate."

"Hmph. Now I'll show that girl that no one messes with my friends!" Amy growled, raising high in the sky her trademark hammer, known for being the cause of many of her enemies' major injuries.

"Good luck out there, Amy!" Sonic called to her as she left for the starting gate.

"Hee hee! Thanks, Sonic!" the pink hedgehog suddenly grinned, snapping out of her angry state.

Splash Canyon's starting gate looked similar to Future City's, but the pillars were wooden on the outside, while retaining their advanced technology on the inside. The 'START' sign protruded out of the left pillar in graffiti styled writing. Amy admitted that it wasn't the style she would have chosen, but that wasn't the point. At the starting gate, she saw Wave coming in, with her own Gear in hand. It was the 'Typhoon', which had a salmon colored standing plate and purple markings on its sides.

"You think you can win with that board?" Wave snarled at Amy. In hindsight, the pink hedgehog didn't do any customizing to her Pink Rose. In fact, all she did change was the name.

"You think you're so high and mighty, don't you?" said hedgehog snarled in return. "Well, after the way you dissed Tails, I'm not gonna hold back! I'll cream you!"

"Hah! Let's see you put those words into action." Just then, Omochao floated over to the scene, his microphone and camera in hand.

"Alright, girls. The rules are just the same as the preliminaries'," the robot Chao said to them. "The winner is the first to make three laps around the track. Any questions?" No response. "Good. Now, take your marks..."

Like with Future City, electric lines shot out of the pillars.

"Get set..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Go!"

The scene was recorded with several cameras, including Omochao's. Viewers across the world could see Wave and Amy dash out of the starting gate. Amy, not wanting to take out all of her rage yet, shifted her weight over to her opponent and knocked her to the side slightly. Wave retaliated with another nudge. The two kept doing so along the road until they jumped off a small ramp and performed spins in opposite directions to each other.

After the two landed on a wooden bridge, the two bad mouthed at each other as they rode off. They were tempted to slow down to a halt when they saw that the bridge had an end (more so with Amy), but they rushed down anyway and found themselves surfing along a river with a strong current. Both Amy and Wave put their bad mouthing aside and focused on propelling themselves forward by leaning in that direction. With no time to marvel at the incoming waterfall's beauty, they bounced off a set of springs that took them upwards. The two females competed once more by performing flashy tricks, spins and flips. Wave, who knew when to stop, tauntingly laughed at Amy's mess up.

"This could cost her the race!" Omochao commented over the situation. Some viewers interpreted it as a comment on Amy's mess up, while others took it as a warning to Wave, who mumbled to herself something about Amy being an amateur.

In the second lap, said amateur caught up with her opponent at the springs at the waterfall. Ahead of her and Wave were two routes: a set of rails to grind on and what was known as an 'air ring ramp', with a set of accelerator rings off it. Amy leaned over the right for the rails, while Wave steered away from her and towards the air rings.

When said swallow jumped off the ramp, she found herself afloat and able to steer herself in the air. She leaned towards the accelerator rings and boosted off them each time.

Meanwhile, sparks flew off the Pink Rose as Amy grinded on the rails and jumped off to the next one with ease (she learned quite a bit from Sonic). At the last rail, she jumped and did a handstand as she landed and noticed Wave descend from the last accelerator ring. As they drifted along a tight bend, Wave decided that things were about to get serious.

She and Amy made it to the same bend on the final lap, Amy snapping at her opponent's snide remarks. Bored of having to deal with the pest, Wave reached for something in the crystal cave she rode in. Suddenly, she grabbed a giant wrench!

"Party's over, girly!" she smirked.

"Not if I have to say anything about it!" Amy roared, taking out her hammer as the sound of her voice echoed in the cave. The crystals that stood tall in the cave shattered by the the weapons used, leaving the shards to fly at Wave and Amy, who blocked each one with their weapons. As they neared a ramp, they steered towards each other and clashed objects with one another, sparks flying from the hammer's contact with the wrench. However, realizing that they had to jump off the large ramp, they broke off of each other and performed turns of opposite directions to each other once again.

After they landed perfectly, Amy kick dashed ahead of Wave and cruised across the shallow lake. The crowds cheered for the pink hedgehog's impending victory, but gasped at the object that knocked her on the back off the board: Wave's wrench!

"Sorry, girly! I win this one!" Wave sneered as she crossed the finish line.

While the victory interview between Omochao and Wave occurred, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles jumped out of their seats and rushed to Amy to help her.

"You okay, Amy?" Sonic asked her, wanting to make sure that she didn't sustain major injuries from that wrench.

"Uh..." the pink hedgehog groaned in pain, clutching where Wave's weapon hit her, her back.

"Does it hurt too bad?"

"N-No, but it sure hurts!" Amy responded. "Stupid bird..." Knuckles and Tails glanced at the interview that went on and clenched their fists. Concerned for their friend, they turned to Amy.

"I'll go get Amy some help," Sonic said to the two. "You two go off wherever the next race is." Tails nodded, but Knuckles had doubts.

"But what if you're in the next race, Sonic? Neither of us can exactly cover for you, you know, and you don't know where the next track is." At that moment, Omochao spoke up, announcing that the next race was to be held in the 'Egg Factory' in six hours and that it was between Knuckles the Echidna and Storm the Albatross.

"Well, lucky for you, you won't have to worry about that," Sonic smirked at his echidna friend, picking up Amy bridal style and taking off to 'who knows where'.

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In the game, you raced as Tails in Splash Canyon in the Heroes Story and as Wave in Red Canyon in the Babylon Story. Here, it's Wave vs Amy in Splash Canyon. Why? I don't know.

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	5. Following Up In The Factory

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Reply to ballandcup' review of Chapter 4: Unknown directions, huh? The story looks like it's on a regular path to me, probably because I've played Sonic Riders before. Have you played it?

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**Later, In The Egg Factory...**

Knuckles and Tails checked out the track in the Egg Factory, while Sonic remained with Amy to comfort her. As the two friends walked alongside each other, they couldn't help but feel beads of sweat slip down their foreheads. In hindsight, that was to be expected. The place wasn't given the nickname 'Thermal Factory' for nothing!

The scenery was a fiery orange and machines whirled round the place in perfect sync with each other. Robots of all kinds of colors patrolled round the very factory they were built in. In a time like the EX World Grand Prix, robberies were feared to increase, so the general public needed that extra protection. In contrast, who would Dr Eggman be helping the people this way?

"I'm sure he feels something for the public, Knuckles," Tails said, adding to the conversation with his friend on that subject. "Even he's not that cruel."

At that moment, Knuckles couldn't help but hear a thud to the ground and the two tailed fox groan in pain. Crouching down to check up on him, he caught sight of gray and white on a large figure. At the same time, said person was tempted to rampage like a bull at the sight of red. Their eyes raised at who they saw.

"You!" Knuckles and Storm gasped as they down their Gears, ready to rumble already.

"What?" Tails scratched his head in confusion. As he caught a glimpse of Storm's Gear, the Hurricane (which was metal plated and surrounded with a thick amber orange material), his mouth gaped. He scurried behind his friend in fear.

"I'll make sure to pay you back for last time!" Storm vowed.

"Hah! I let you get away last time, but things will be different today!" Knuckles shouted back.

"Why wait, you little punk?" the large albatross smirked, taking a step towards his enemy. "I'll pay you back now! Tenfold!" He cracked his knuckles and got ready to launch a punch.

Knuckles, however, couldn't take this. He swung his own fist back to ready a punch, but accidentally knocked his friend on the face with his backswing! As the echidna felt his namesake connect with the chin, he jumped upwards in fear, immediately turned back afterwards and tried to help him up.

"W-What was that, you clumsy fool!?" Storm couldn't help but laugh. "I'll show you a real punch!"

Winding up his fist, he took a step backwards, not knowing that a red robot was marching in front of him. Knuckles told him to stop when he noticed the machine, but Storm ignored him. With a large swing, the bird knocked out the robot and not Knuckles! As the machine lied on the ground, its glowing eyes blackening, Storm panicked as he picked it up.

"S-Sorry there! I-It wasn't my fault!" he stuttered. "If he hadn't wimped out and faced me, I would have clobbered-" With the sound of a spring, the machine's head popped right out, sparks sizzling from where it once connected with the body.

"Whaaat!?" Knuckles yelled. Straight away, Tails jumped back up and hauled it over to whatever tech support he could find, resisting the urge to mutter something about Knuckles and Storm not using their brains. Just then, an announcement from Omochao blared.

"The race is about to begin. Knuckles the Echidna, Storm the Albatross, please come to the Egg Factory's starting gate now."

"Grr! The track! We'll settle it there!" Knuckles growled, cracking his namesakes before picking up his board.

"Looking forward to it!" Storm smirked. After he picked up his own Gear, he chased after his enemy to the designated location.

The starting gate's industrial appearance suited its location and the word 'START' stood out in bright capital letters. As Omochao admired the structure, he heard the clatter of footsteps that came from the two competitors. To be honest, the robot Chao could tell that those two weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but he knew that they were determined to win. Bickering between Knuckles and Storm played out as he turned to greet them.

"So, first one to make three laps wins the race, right?" Knuckles asked Omochao quickly, not taking a breath between each word.

"Actually-"

"Great! Let's go now! I wanna crush that little red mutt right now!" Storm interrupted him.

"What did you just call me!?" said mutt snapped back, readying his fists for a fight. The large albatross pumped out his own, but before they could trade blows, Omochao swooped right between them.

"Easy there, guys!" he shouted, holding out his 'hands' in front of the two fighters. "Save it for the track!" Bringing the two closer to him, he added in a hushed tone, "You're on live TV, remember?" Knuckles and Storm apologized immediately, but they didn't resist the urge to glare at each other. Ignoring this, Omochao began to go over the rules. "Yes, Knuckles, the first one to make three laps wins. However, there's a catch this time round."

"This time?" Storm repeated, scratching his head.

"You see, there are robots walking across the track," Omochao continued. "While you're out there, you can't run into or knock on any of them. If you do so to three of them, you'll be disqualified. Are we all clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir," Storm said, saluting him.

"Uh, yeah... What he said," Knuckles sighed.

"Good. Now, take your marks..."

"Wait! We're starting now!?" Hastily, the two competitors picked up their boards and took their positions. Then, an electric line shot out from between the pillars.

"Get set..."

As sparks flew from the line, Knuckles and Storm glared at each other once more.

"Three..."

They crouched down.

"Two..."

They sprinted ahead.

"One..."

"Go!"

Knuckles and Storm were just an inch away from getting stunned and losing a lot of speed, but they pulled through. Like in Future City, there was a dip and rise, followed by a trick ramp. In the Egg Factory, the ramps were a rusty brown with maroon arrows pointing ahead. The two powerhouses continually knocked on each other and didn't realize that they had to jump off the ramp, leading to failed tricks and loss of speed. Enraged, Knuckles kick dashed ahead of his rival, while said albatross followed suit and attempted to nudge him off his Red Rock.

"Wow! This is looking to be a grudge match between Knuckles and Storm!" Omochao commented on this as the two competitors jumped off a smaller ramp and performed turns away from each other. A sharp bend in the track caught them off guard, but Knuckles held his right hand in front of him and pushed himself against the wall, propelling himself forward and boosting ahead of Storm.

As Knuckles smirked to the fact that he held the lead, Storm kick dashed once again and readied his fist. The echidna took notice of this and swung his own at it, the force of the two punches pushing them away from each other. They approached another sharp bend, but thanks to the fish clash, Knuckles was pushed on the outside of it, so Storm cut past him, drifted round and took the lead.

By this point on the track, in the second lap, Knuckles decided that he was kicking it into high gear! The magma of the Egg Factory burned like the echidna's determination to win and he wasn't about to let Storm get away with holding the lead for the rest of the first lap. As he neared the ramp, he crouched, slowing down meanwhile. With a grab on the end of his board, he leaped into the air and somersaulted forward. After following up with an anticlockwise turn, he landed perfectly on a higher path than the one his rival was on.

"Hah! Take that!" he shouted aloud, his voice echoing as he was propelled forward with Dash Pads.

"The race has just begun!" Storm raised a fist, not knowing what was in front of him. The large gloved fist ploughed through a coat of metal and little beeps and blips echoed in the factory. With gasps of horror from the crowd, Storm knew what he did muttered a little 'uh oh'.

"Ooh! That's one out of three robots Storm has knocked on!" Omochao announced. "Two more and he's out!"

"Look what you made me do, you idiot!" The albatross' enraged cry echoed as Knuckles was propelled to his right by a stray Dash Pad facing said direction.

Soon, gravity pulled him back from the shortcut to the main path. Storm and Knuckles then found themselves pushed upwards by a powerful fan. With the second they had without ground to travel on, they flipped in the air. They landed successfully on a new part of the track, one that was supported by heat resistant bars.

"It was your fault that you punched that guy out!" Knuckles reminded his opponent. "You should watch where you punch!"

"What did you say!? Now I'm mad!"

"Hmph! You've been mad since you knocked that other robot out before the race, but you still can't do anything about it!" Knuckles smashed through a set of barrels for a shortcut as he made this remark.

"Graaaaah! That's it! Victory is mine for sure!" Storm had enough. With a fierce kick dash, he boosted himself forward and barreled through a passerby robot, not caring that he had one more chance before getting disqualified.

When it came to Extreme Gear, turbulence streams were released behind the boards and the size of it depended on the rider's speed. Opponents could ride the turbulence and catch up with their rivals. That was what Storm did to pass Knuckles and take back the lead.

Through the rest of the second lap and through most of the final lap, the two rivals abused each other's turbulence trails to get ahead. As they performed tricks, they purposely knocked the Red Rock and the Hurricane into each other, in hopes that it would knock each other off balance. Ignoring Omochao's comments on the race becoming a fight, they returned to the point in the track with the set of barrels.

Knuckles and Storm took opposite sides and each lifted a barrel with one hand, punching through the rest with the other. As they raced across a left bend, they hurled the items to knock each other off, but it was to no avail. The barrels collided with each other, bursting into various robot parts. Storm cracked his knuckles, while Knuckles did a few arm stretches, and the two rode leaned towards each other.

Swinging their fists at each other, they were once again propelled away. Off an approaching ramp, they performed turns towards each other. As they landed, they launched at each other again, Storm narrowly dodging an incoming robot. They drifted along a sharp left turn and continued to knock into each other.

Soon after realizing that they were riding along a straight path, the two powerhouses focused on getting ahead instead of knocking each other out. They kick dashed repeatedly, gaining constant speed boosts, but as they approached a right turn, they were forced to drift. The core of the Egg Factory was as fiery as Knuckles and Storm's rage. Because they were nearing the starting gate for the third time, they attempted to grind each other off to the pillars.

Their shoulders were pushed against each other. They growled and roared like wild lions.

They crossed the finish line!

But... who won?

Omochao asked for the footage of the final stretch to be replayed and the screens displayed said footage upon orders. As it was being played, Knuckles, Storm, the crowd and even Omochao was left in cliffhanger like suspense. Hearts raced. Fists were clenched. Eventually, the replay was slowed down to a halt the moment someone crossed the finish the line.

Well, more like someones.

"It's... a tie!" Omochao declared, gaining gasps from the crowd and the competitors. "However..."

"What now?" Knuckles groaned. Would there have to be a rematch? The echidna was exhausted enough!

"The winner will be determined by how many times each racer has knocked on a robot."

"What!?" Storm began to sweat like crazy. He wanted to run away and cower behind his boss.

"Knuckles has knocked out zero robots, but Storm has knocked out two. Therefore, after this war zone of a race, Knuckles has come out on top!"

The crowd cheered and applauded Knuckles for his victory. Knuckles smirked and made a pose for the fans out there. Apparently, he hung out with Sonic and Tails too much, for the fangirls shrieked ear piercing shrieks.

Meanwhile, Storm was enraged. Enraged and devastated.

"You may have won this round! But don't get too happy!" he yelled at Knuckles. "I'll get you for this! You'll see!"

Under all that determination, the albatross couldn't help but worry about how the boss, Jet, would react to his loss. What would he do? How would he be able to make up for it? Immediately, he rushed out of the Egg Factory to find Jet's airship.

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Happy late Halloween, everybody! Yeah, I'm a few days late, but you probably know why.

Anyway, to be honest, this is one of my less favorite chapters. I don't know why, but I'm not too big on the Factory tracks in Sonic Riders. Still, I hope this came out well. Take care, everybody!

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	6. Sub Zero Storm

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Before I begin, I'd like to thank gamer097 for adding this story to their favorites. I would also like to thank the one and only Child at Heart Forever for adding this story to their story alerts and favorites.

Reply to ballandcup's review of Chapter 5: Confusing? To be honest, I think you're the one that's twisted my mind a little. But no matter. On with the chapter. Well, not yet. Review reply time!

Reply to Child at Heart Forever's reviews of Chapters 1-5: Ooh, I see you've taken a liking to this story! I'm so glad that you've given it a chance! But... Oh boy. This review reply is gonna be pretty long.

Ch 1: Thanks for the kind words! I worked with what I could and I hope to continue to please you with my work!

Ch 2: I checked out some earlier novelizations of Sonic Riders. The common theme was that the authors jumped straight to the race after the 'Eggman Again!' cutscene. I always wanted to know what happened in between, so I made up my own stuff.

Eggman's a narcissistic guy. Of course I had to add 'EGGY-4-LIFE' there! XD

Ch 3: Canon or not, Sonic Riders is another adventure for Sonic and friends. It seems that linking this game with the others paid off quite well.

Replaying the game, I see? Let's hope you do well!

Ch 4: Wave's a snarky one, isn't she? I like to think that I pulled off her personality quite well.

Yes, Tails will shine in a later chapter. And boy, do I mean it!

Ch 5: I don't know. I'm just not too huge on the Factory levels. The levels to come are far more interesting, in my book!

But you gotta love the thing Knuckles and Storm have for each other! I think their rivalry may be a bit exaggerated in this novelization, but it gets the job done.

Man, I smacked my forehead when I finally noticed that error! It sounded funny saying 'how would he e' out loud, though! I got it solved.

Phew! That was a long one. However, it was worth it. I'm so honored that you've given this fic the praise it might or might not deserve, Child! This next chapter's for you, buddy!

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**In The Northern Parts Of The Region...**

Jet's airship passed a nearby mountain. The snowfall made it hard to see, but that wasn't what was on the captain's mind at the moment. The hawk stared out the window, several thoughts clouding his mind. Thoughts on crystal box he held, thoughts on 'the key to Babylon Garden... Thoughts on Dr Eggman's motives... Just as Jet was about to get up...

"S-Soorry!" A deep cry has heard, along with the sound of those ever so infamous footsteps. That could only mean one person...

"Aaah!" Jet screamed, jumping out of his seat as Storm approached the captain's room. Well, instead of 'approached', let's use the word 'stampeded'.

The large albatross slammed his hands on the table, telling his boss, "Th-the red dude beat me... in the race..."

While Jet was disappointed that Storm lost to Knuckles, what really aggravated him was that it was the second time in only a week that Storm just burst in like that. As he picked himself up and grumbled, he made a mental note to get his friend some help.

"Man, you really are worthless..." Wave sighed from outside the room. The other two Babylon Rogues looked at her, then back at each other.

"But it wasn't my fault!" Storm tried to tell Jet. "He... must have cheated! He used some special type of Gear, that's it!" The boss sighed.

"Oh boy..."

"What!?" Wave squawked. "Are you implying that you lost because of my Gear!?" She pointed a finger and jabbed it at Storm's round stomach. "No one can tune a Gear the way I can!" Storm backed away slightly. "Accept it, buddy," Wave snarled. "It's not the board." She turned right round, her hands on her hips. "Your skills just suck!"

"Wha... S-Su... S-S... S-Suck?" Storm half stuttered half gasped.

"Yes," the mechanic responded bluntly. "S-U-C-K. Suck!"

"Su... S..."

"Stop it!" Jet screamed, slamming his own hands on the table, grabbing the attention of the bickering two. "Now, let's get down to business, you two." Said bickerers nodded. "I believe our 'colleague' Eggman... is hiding something. And as you know, I don't like secrets." Jet walked back and forth as he spoke, leaving his teammates wondering what was going to happen. "Storm, I've got a job for you."

"Sure!" the albatross replied.

Jet, looking down the window, said, "I want you to sneak into Eggman's base over there." He pointed at the glass and motioned Storm over. The snow fell less, making it somewhat easier for them to see Eggman's ice base. "Make sure you look carefully and find what he's hiding."

"You got it, boss!" Storm affirmed, saluting his boss as he took off to carry out his mission.

"Hey! Before you go!" Jet called him back. The powerhouse turned around. "Return with something, or don't return at all!"

While frightened slightly, Storm returned with a confident response of 'Yes sir!' before rushing out. As he took, he swung the door shut behind. The vibrations from the door shook everything else in the room, including a particular painting of Jet's father that hung above the table. It shook for a moment. Then, after a split second of stillness, it came crashing down on the floor and the frame shattered like glass.

Jet yelped at the crash and landed on the floor himself. Then, his face changed from a state of shock to a state of rage. His teeth were clenched. His fists shook. He leaped from the floor, then stomped on the ground, as mad as a bull. He lunged for the table. He then swung his foot at it with great force, breaking it in half! Wave yelped in fear and backed away from the angry captain.

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**At Eggman's Base...**

The entire area was ice cold. Far too cold for Storm. He couldn't help but shiver as he finally arrived at Eggman's new base, a large, gray tower with searchlights moving around it. The face displayed at the front of the tower resembled the owner of base himself, Eggman. Apart from the sign of narcissism, the tower of truly an industrial feat. However, Storm didn't have time to admire it, for he was constantly on the move because of the searchlights.

They moved in regular patterns, but the albatross kept panicking and kept running close to getting caught. At one point, when Storm hid behind a barrel and peeked out, his head was an inch away from one of the searchlights! Eventually, though, after constant weaving in and out behind barrels and after slipping in between some of the searchlights, Storm was finally able to set foot into the base.

Storm breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as he found that the area around him was illuminated, he knew something was wrong.

"Uh oh..."

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" a mechanical voice announced. "DEPLOY ALL SECURITY UNITS AT THE ENTRANCE!" The watch robot repeated it message to the other units as they seemed to jump out of nowhere and surround Storm.

"Uh... Hey?" he tried to fake greet them, but it was no use. The green robots' eyes shone red.

"TARGET ACQUIRED!" the apparent leader of the squad announced. "ATTACK! ATTACK!" The sounds of revving and whirring echoed in the base. The robots began to attack!

"Oh no!" Storm yelled in fear. He hopped on the Hurricane and kick dashed away. The trailing turbulence blew the eight robots away temporarily, but they recovered swiftly and they chased after the intruder.

Storm came across a set of giant fans, surrounded by more robots. He barreled through the fans and knocked over the robots, little did he know that the ruckus he caused resulted in more security robots on the move. As their numbers added up to extreme levels, Storm found himself losing his speed. Taking a moment to look back, he realized that he was up a slope. The road, from that point, kept spiraling up the tower.

"There's got to be something good up the top of this thing!" Storm said to himself. "I better get there before the boss has my head!"

There were other paths that branched out, all of which were guarded by a robot or two each. Luckily, the side paths led Storm back on the main path. He kept kick dashing to regain his speed and he knocked away more robots, still not knowing that it caused twice as much of them to chase after him. Eventually, Storm couldn't help but see what looked like a dead end!

"Gaaah!" the albatross yelled in fear. However, as he backed up and slowed down, he seemed to notice a set of buttons on the side of what looked like a door. "An elevator? Just my lucky day!" Storm turned around and uttered a prayer to his ancestors to help him get through. There appeared to be hundreds of robots (maybe thousands!)!

As they slowly inched their way towards their target, said target repeatedly mashed a button for the elevator to turn up. Frantically, he turned his head back and forth. In no time, he felt metal hands grab him by the waist!

"PREPARING TO EJECT INTRUDER."

"DING!"

"Ah! The elevator! Back off, you pieces of scrap metal!" Storm squirmed out of the robot leader's grasp and grabbed his board. As he slowly walked backwards to inside the elevator, he swung the Hurricane around, hoping to repel any of the robots. Fortunately, as the doors began to close, there was enough space between Storm and them.

The elevator began to rise. This gave Storm some time to say a prayer of thanks to his ancestors. He remained silent afterwards. With the sound of a bell, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. The massive structure that loomed over Storm as he walked up to it was a supercomputer. Next to the keyboard were several chips. These chips contained information that would prove to be useful to the Babylon Rogues, but Storm couldn't decide which one to take.

He closed his eyes and waved his hand randomly above the pile. Afterwards, he dipped his hand down and took the one it was below.

"Aha! Jet will be so proud of me!" Storm laughed triumphantly as he rode out of the base.

* * *

Yes! UpbeatButNegative is back! Sorry for the hold up, guys. Along with the usual schoolwork and homework, I've been hanging out with my real life friends more often. Also, the curse of the teenage boy's mood swings have struck me once again, so I never felt bothered to update. I'm sorry, guys.

Before I go, I would like to proudly announce that it has now been two years since I first signed up for this website! Yeah, two years old... It's time for some additions. Every week, from this point on, I will be uploading a different poll on my profile that I would like you guys to answer. Why am I doing this? No reason, really. Getting people's opinions on stuff, maybe?

Also, I've decided to open up from just writing stories here. I understand that people will always have some kind of problem in their lives. It happens. I have them, too, so I understand how it feels. Therefore, from now on, I will be a sort of counselor on FanFiction. If you have any problems (preferably social problems and such), leave me an email or whatever and I'll help you out.

Anyway, guys, I hope to entertain you all with my works for another year and the years to come!

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**~Have a great day, week, fortnight, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


	7. Tricks Up The Tree

**I own no Sonic characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Sega.**

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Before I begin, I'd like to thank The DragonLord2912 for adding this story to their favorites.

Reply to ballandcup's review of Chapter 6: Thanks!

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**Sometime Later, In The Forest...**

"Aaaaah..."

Jet threw himself onto the lush, green grass, resting his head on his hands. As his eyes began to shut, a smile pulled along his beak. While the sun's rays found their way through the abundance of leaves from trees, little woodland creatures chirped, setting a peaceful and calm scene. As for Jet's purple companion, she was not so calm.

"Oh... Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy..." Wave followed up this repetition with a grunt of frustration as she paced back and forth. "Urgh... What's taking Storm so long?" she questioned to herself.

Jet opened his eyes, turned to the swallow and told her, "Everything's gonna be fine,so just sit down and relax. Chill, Wave."

"Really, Jet! How can you be so relaxed at a time like this?" Wave scolded her 'leader', stomping her foot. Said leader gave no response. "Don't you see?" Wave continued. "As the leader, you've got responsibilities." Still no response. "Some you understand, but..."

From that point, all Jet could hear was the sound of gibber. In hindsight, he should have been used to Wave's lectures, though he could never grow accustomed to them. He turned away from his friend, despite Wave still babbling. Apparently, it disturbed the peace of the scenery. Jet couldn't help but hear the sound of rustling leaves, which he assumed to be little birds flying away in fear.

_I can't blame them..._

However, upon closer inspection, Jet noticed a figure descending through the leaves, one that he remembered seeing a few days ago. The hawk smirked.

"Hmm... I think it's time for a little fun!"

So he didn't disturb Wave while she continued to ramble on and on, Jet picked himself up from the grass very slowly. Then, he bent down and grabbed his Extreme Gear, the Cyclone, a green board with a yellow ring around a metal footing plate. Afterwards, he crept past her at a speed equal to that of a snail. Luckily, Wave's eyes were closed as she went on and on, making... awkward poses... as she did so.

However, as Wave's ears finally caught sound of rustling leaves, she opened her eyes. After looking around, she couldn't find Jet.

"Hey, Jet!" she screamed in rage. "You come back here! Right! Now!"

Once again, there was no response. Jet disappeared off to a more interesting spot.

"Why do I even bother?" Wave sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "Unless I take charge, nothing ever gets done..." She could have went to look for his green friend, but she decided against it. After all, the next race was going to start soon and she was called up to compete, as well as a certain two tailed fox she ran into earlier (though she didn't know that yet!).

"The semifinal race will begin in ten minutes!" Omochao announced. "Wave the Swallow, Miles 'Tails' Prower, please convene at the starting gate prior to that time!"

In another part of the forest, Sonic the Hedgehog was seen shooting past the mighty trees' leaves in the middle of a series of backflips. As he descended to the ground, he performed two clockwise turns before landing perfectly.

Knuckles whistled, then commented, "Wow, Sonic! You've really gotten better!"

"Yeah! Where did you learn those techniques?" Tails added, running up to his best friend, who smirked cockily at the compliments he received.

"Hah! Still very unimpressive for someone of your reputation!" another voice called out, the sound of the remark echoing through the part of the forest. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles turned around to look for the source of the voice. Sonic looked upwards and saw someone up on one of the branches, someone he didn't want to see.

"You..." the hedgehog growled.

"You know, I've checked you out," Jet said. "Not bad... I'll admit that you're pretty fast on your feet. But with Extreme Gear, it's a whole different story! You see, to become the fastest on a Gear, you have to become one with the wind! Without wings... Well, you might as well kiss the ground and go home!"

"What did you just say to him!?" Knuckles snarled, stepping in front of Sonic.

He said nothing. With a huge leap, Jet left the scene, another one of his cackles echoing in the forest.

"Who does he think he is!?" Knuckles growled, cracking his namesakes.

Sonic shrugged, then said, "Well, he's probably not all talk, you know. I better keep on my toes during this competition." Sonic looked at the Blue Star. Tails noticed this and looked at the board, too. As the fox did so, a voice replayed in his mind.

_'I never imagined anyone would enter the Grand Prix with such a piece of 'junk'!'_

"Sorry, Sonic," Tails said to him. "I just need to fine tune a few things, then your Gear will be at 100%!"

"C'mon, man. Don't push yourself," Knuckles responded, placing an arm on his shoulder for a second.

"Yeah. You always do your best, buddy," Sonic reassured his surrogate brother.

"But Wave had a point..." the fox responded. "She must be a really brilliant mecha mechanic." He turned away for a second to gather his thoughts. Turning back to his friends, he told them, "Sonic! Knuckles! Don't worry! I'll unlock the secret of the Extreme Gear for us!" The hedgehog and the echidna nodded, getting the same response from the two tailed fox. Then, said fox picked up the Yellow Tail and headed for the starting gate. His friends encouraged him to do his best in the race as Tails walked off.

At the starting gate, Tails noticed a certain someone leaning on one of the pillars. A purple swallow... That was his opponent. Wave glanced around to noticed the fox getting ready for race and she walked up to him.

"Miles, huh?" Wave sneered. "What kind of name is that?"

"... It's Tails."

"Whatever, shorty. You know that your skills aren't up to scratch with mine, so why not save yourself some time and go home?"

"..." Though Tails said nothing, there was no doubt that if he was someone else, he would have let out all of his rage. However, he knew that talk was cheap.

At that moment, Omochao appeared in between the two of them to go over the rules once more. He revealed that, like the race in the Egg Factory, there was a twist.

"The first one to make three laps might not be declared the winner," the robot Chao said. "You see, this time, there will be a points system. While you'll be awarded points for the time you take to finish, you'll also be given points for the quality of your tricks. However, any time the cameras catch you messing up somehow, you'll lose some points. While this system will encourage you to dazzle the audience with your skills, don't take too long out there! Got it?"

"Yeah," Tails and Wave both said.

"Great! Good luck out there, you two! Now, take your marks..."

On that note, the two competitors took their positions. Meanwhile, the electric line shot out.

"Get set..."

Wave turned to Tails and made one more remark, while Tails glared at her.

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Go!"

As the electric line disappeared, the two racers sped ahead, hopped on their boards and kick dashed away. Like in the other tracks featured in the Grand Prix, the first thing was a slope. Tails and Wave gained speed as they rushed downwards, but because of Wave's design, she got ahead slightly. The two approached a ramp, from which they performed their own turns and flips. Wave laughed at the assumption that she scored more points from the trick. After all, she was lifted higher in the air with her jump, so she was able to squeeze in an extra turn.

Tails and Wave then approached a large bend, boarded with wooden planks along the edges, of course. This was where their drifting skills were put to the test. While Wave moved inwards straight away, Tails moved slightly outwards. However, this situation soon turned to the latter's favor, as he gave himself enough room to close in gradually, while the former was restricted right near the planks in order to keep ahead.

The turbulence from the Yellow Tail swept the Typhoon into it and as Tails inched outwards slightly once again, Wave was forced to follow. She couldn't escape the force of the burst of wind and that was bad timing for her! At the end of the large leftward bend, there was a sharp turn to the right. Suddenly, Tails appeared to be a spinning top. He did a quick 360 turn, which generated a small tornado from the Yellow Tail's back end. Because of the turbulence, Wave was forced into the little wind funnel and was swept backwards.

"Woah! Did you see that, folks?" Omochao gasped in excitement. "Tails' turbulence led Wave to his tornado! There's some bonus points for him!"

Not letting it get to his head, Tails simply turned round the bend and kick dashed out of the drift, while Wave lagged behind.

However, by this point, in the second lap, Wave was already nearing Tails, thanks to some of her cunning schemes and the rightward bend, the two racers saw the path split into three, one of which led to an air ring ramp with a path of accelerator rings. From this point, they were racing on an abnormally large tree! As the centerpiece of the track, its mighty branches stood the test of time and served as the pathways the manmade road into.

Wave knew that Tails had his eye on heading for the ramp, so she quickly drew up a plan for him. One of the swallow's inventions was the 'Bowling Bomb', which needed to be rolled like a bowling ball, so it could blow up its target, like a bomb. With as much power as she could, Wave launched her weapon at her opponent, little did he know of his impending doom.

In a fiery explosion, Tails was sent high in the sky, though he kept hold of the Yellow Tail. However, this meant that Wave was able to take the air ring ramp and fly through the rings, taking the lead in the process.

"Ha ha! Anything goes in this race, shorty!" Wave cackled, her voice echoing in the track.

Tails, being a smart boy, thought on the spot for a solution to his problem, ignoring Omochao's rather irritating commentary meanwhile. As the fox descended, he shifted his weight forward, hoping that he would shoot through an accelerator ring and to the rest. The air rushed upwards and against him, while the pressure soared to tremendous levels.

_Come on! Will I make it?_

To the crowd's shock and surprise, the maneuver turned out to be a success. As the accelerator ring shot Tails forward, he cheered to himself aloud.

"Ha ha! I did it, I did it!"

He continued to shift his weight upwards and downwards, maneuvering through the accelerator rings perfectly, until he made it through the last one, from which he performed two anticlockwise turns, then a front flip. The crowd roared in applause, while Wave grew angry over this. With a series of three kick dashes, Tails caught up with said swallow. Then, the two racers came across a large bridge, which was shaped like a millipede. It twisted and turned around, then connected back to artificial road. Tails and Wave raced along it, the latter continually bumping into the former throughout, in hopes of knocking him off.

_Gah! This girl would do anything to win!_ Tails' teeth clenched at this thought. He was tempted to retaliate, but he only knocked Wave off him for defense, instead of trying to knock her off the track in offence.

Throughout the third lap, Wave threw all sorts of contraptions at Tails, who kept finding his way out of them each time. After the two raced along the millipede roads again, they sped along a straight path, thanks to the Dash Pads. Tails pulled ahead, leaning to the right for another air ring ramp. Wave, with no more inventions to throw at him, chased after the fox in pursuit. She knew that she had to rely on her own skills to get ahead.

After performing turns after the last accelerator ring, Tails and Wave were neck and neck. All that stood in their way was a final ramp and three large webs. To get the points, they had to perform the flashiest tricks they could. Wave still bumped into Tails purposely with her clockwise turn, messing his trick up.

As they bounced off the first web, the two did backflips. After bouncing on the second web, Wave, keeping hold of the Typhoon with her feet, did a handstand on Tails' Yellow Tail and pushed herself off to do another backflip, gaining an overwhelming result from the crowd. On the third web, she and Tails bounced very high, higher than the other two webs did, so it was a battle in the sky for the most points. As they descended, Wave attempted to use Tails as a 'stepping stone' once again, but as her hands were about to touch the board, Tails used his namesakes to grab the Yellow Tail. Then, the fox himself somersaulted away from the swallow, then looked downwards to look for the finish line. Taking a tip from Sonic, Tails flicked his board with his namesakes, then turned around as it span. As he caught it, he landed perfectly on his two feet past the goal line. The crowd roared in applause once more, ignoring the fact that Wave finally crossed the finish line soon after.

"And with that, the race is over!" Omochao declared. "Let's tally up the scores, shall we?"

"Hmph! I'm still gonna win, you know?" Wave sneered at Tails, who still gave no response.

"Wave, you did a great job out there!" As Omochao said this, a replay of Wave's handstand push on Tails' board appeared on screen. "Out of a possible 100, you got 80!"

As the crowd cheered, Wave laughed at Tails, "Beat that!"

"As for Tails..." Omochao began, a replay of his somersault trick appearing on screen. "You did marvelously! Out of 100, you got 90!"

The crowd cheered even louder for Tails than they did for Wave, who was left stunned at the results and stuttered, "B-But... m-my board is... better!" Tails turned around, with a huge smile on his face, but before he could say anything to Wave, he found that she was gone.

"Wave? Hmm."

* * *

It's about time I gave Tails some action! Because the guy is one of my favorite Sonic characters, I enjoyed writing this chapter all the more.

As of the day I'm uploading this, it's New Year's Eve! I could have uploaded this on around Christmas, but I had no time. Sorry, guys! I hope this makes up for it!

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**~Happy late Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever, guys! Have a Happy New Year and stay upbeat, y'all!~**


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